Unsolicited communication mitigation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for mitigating unwanted communication are disclosed. A request to establish communications is received at a first Protection Against Unsolicited Communications in Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (PUC) server. The PUC server determines whether to block the communication. If the communication is blocked, the sender is informed and a record of the blocked communication may be stored. Alternatively, the communication may be delivered to a subsequent PUC server (along with appended information about the sender), the receiver or sent to storage.

1 . A method for protecting against unsolicited communications comprising:
 receiving a message by a first protection against unsolicited communications (PUC) server;   evaluating the message based on policy information;   blocking the message based on the evaluation of the message, wherein the evaluation is based on known or acquired information; and   forwarding the message with appended sender information on a condition that the message was not blocked, wherein the appended information is used to evaluate the message.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein policy information includes at least one of:
 source prohibition information, disablement of a function, prompting information, or SPAM redirection information.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 notifying a sender that the message was blocked.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the PUC server is in at least one of:
 a senders network, an intermediary network PUC, a home PUC server or a presence PUC server.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the message by a second PUC server;   evaluating the message based on policy information;   blocking the message based on the evaluation of the message, and on a condition that storing is allowed, recording and storing a message in a database;   on a condition that the message is not blocked, performing a second evaluation based on home record information; and   on a condition that the message was not blocked, forwarding the message with appended sender information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 receiving the message by a third PUC server;   evaluating the message based on policy information;   blocking the message based on the evaluation of the message and storing a classification based on policy information, on a condition that storing is allowed, recording and storing a message in a database;   on a condition that the message is not blocked, determining whether the message was answered;   on a condition that the call was not answered, recording and storing the message;   on a condition that the call was answered, establishing a media connection; and   completing the call.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message includes at least one of identifiers, a sender's home network information, or type of communication. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first PUC server is dedicated to the sender's network or the first PUC server is the initial PUC server to receive the message. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving information, by each coordinating PUC server, that the message is from an undesirable sender; and   terminating the communication.   
     
     
         10 . The message of  claim 1 , wherein process control occurs at a sender's PUC server. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message is a call request. 
     
     
         12 . A protection against unsolicited communications (PUC) server comprising:
 a transceiver configured to send and receive a message;   a processor configured to process the message;   the transceiver further configured to append sender information to the message;   the processor further configured to evaluate the message based at least in part on sender information;   a database configured to store information;   a session initiation protocol (SIP) server configured to facilitate receiving and sending the message; and   a media proxy server configured to establish a media connection for transmission of the message.   
     
     
         13 . The PUC server of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 an interface to at least one of the database, the SIP server, or the media proxy server, wherein these devices may be located anywhere in a network or in multiple networks.   
     
     
         14 . The PUC server of  claim 12 , wherein the message is a call request.